History Made as Women Become Notaries in Saudi Arabia for the First Time

The Ministry of Justice grants full notarisation powers to 12 Saudi women

RIYADH, July 9, 2018 – For the first time in its history, the Saudi Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has granted 12 women notarisation licences with all the powers granted to male notaries, the ministry announced on Monday. “Private notaries can issue and cancel powers of attorney (PoAs), and notarise corporate charters and property conveyances. Their private offices work in the morning and evening, seven days a week, using an integrated digital system,” the ministry said in a statement. There are a total of 1,313 licenced private notaries in the Kingdom, and the Ministry of Justice will continue to grant licences while monitoring the quality of services provided, the ministry said. According to the ministry’s statistics, private notaries have issued a total of 29,058 PoAs, canceled 272 PoAs, and certified 2,293 corporate charters since the service was launched in February 2017. The PoAs and corporate charters certified by private notaries are accepted by all government departments and judicial entities, the ministry said.

“The private notarisation service (Mwathiq) is one of the ministry’s National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 initiatives, aiming at enhancing notarial efficiency for individuals and companies by involving the private sector. This will bring about more privatisation of justice services and boost the national economy in accordance with Saudi Vision 2030,” the ministry added. Notarisation is one of the most important services assigned to the private sector by the Ministry of Justice. The system has been developed and is operated by Thiqah for Business Services, a government company owned by the Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers (TAQEEM), and the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA). In addition, the MoJ portal enables clients to inquire about and verify the status, validity, and expiration date of any PoA without having to visit a notarial office. This can be done by visiting the main page for the service and entering the PoA number and ID number in the query window.